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Complete Guide

A comprehensive overview of Inkwren's publishing management system.

What is Inkwren?​

Inkwren helps you manage the complete lifecycle of publishing:

  • Stories: Manage manuscripts, track word counts, organize by genre
  • Publications: Track books, anthologies, magazines, and collections
  • Calls for Submissions: Invite authors to submit stories to a publication and track their responses
  • Manuscripts: Collect and review incoming story submissions to a publication — the publisher-side slush pile
  • Author Invitations: Share a publication with its authors as a read-only copy in their own workspace
  • Authors: Manage authors, pen names, and contributor information
  • Contributors: Keep a roster of everyone credited on your stories and publications
  • Publishers: Keep records of publishing houses and markets
  • Series: Group related stories and publications with flexible decimal ordering
  • Submissions: Track the journey from submission to publication
  • Markets: Build a database of submission venues and track acceptance rates
  • Sales: Track book revenue across channels by importing retailer sales and royalty reports
  • Tasks: Organize your to-do list with priorities, categories, and entity linking
  • Contracts: Manage contributor agreements from draft through signature
  • Royalty Splits: Record how each publication's royalties are divided among its contributors
  • Promotions: Track time-boxed marketing efforts — book launches, Kickstarters, BookBub deals, StoryBundles
  • Pull Quotes: Curate review excerpts per publication, ready to copy into marketing copy
  • Projects: Track ongoing publishing work like serializations
  • Destinations: Manage your content outlets — newsletters, blogs, Patreon, and more
  • Channels: Track distribution platforms and where your publications are for sale
  • Cover Credits: Record attribution and licensing for cover artwork
  • Subscription & Billing: Choose a plan, start a free trial, and manage payments
  • Tier Limits: See what each plan lets you create and what happens when you reach a cap
  • Product Tours: Guided walkthroughs that show you around your workspace

Core Features​

Dashboard​

Your publishing operations command center. Monitor story counts, publication progress, submission pipeline, and acceptance rates at a glance.

Command Palette​

Find anything instantly with Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+/ (Windows/Linux). Search across all content with smart recent items tracking.

Story Command Center​

A comprehensive hub for managing each story. Click any story title to access:

TabPurpose
OverviewQuick stats and publication timeline
PublicationsWhere this story has appeared
SubmissionsTrack submission history and status
EditingManage revision workflows
Rights & PaymentsTrack contracts and payments
NotesKeep research and writing notes

Publication Command Center​

Complete publication management. Click any publication title to access:

TabPurpose
OverviewPublication details and story contents
FormatsTrack ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio editions
Editing PipelineEditorial workflow with progress tracking
ManuscriptsSubmission tracking for anthology stories
ContractsContributor agreement management
Pull QuotesCurated review excerpts and endorsements
Royalty SplitsContributor payment configuration
TasksLinked task management

Rich Relationships​

Track how stories appear across multiple publications with detailed metadata including title variations, pen names used, and reprint status.

Comprehensive Tracking​

Monitor submissions, editing workflows, payments, and rights for each story appearance.

Additional Features​

Rich Text Editor​

Create compelling content with modern formatting tools for story synopses, publication descriptions, and author bios.

Themes​

Choose a workspace color scheme — five presets (Classic Purple, Literary Teal, Forest Green, Sunset Orange, Ocean Blue) plus custom colors — with personal light/dark/system mode and display density.

Keyboard Shortcuts​

Navigate efficiently with 15 keyboard shortcuts. Press Cmd+K to see available shortcuts.

Browse your publication series in a Pinterest-style gallery with covers, search, and filtering.

Data Import​

Import existing data from spreadsheets via CSV. See CSV Import for details.

Export Your Data​

Export your workspace data as CSV for spreadsheets or JSON for scripts and integrations. See Exporting Your Data.

Documentation Sections​

Quick Start Guide​

Get up and running in 10 minutes - account setup, onboarding, first content.

User Guide​

Complete guides for managing your publishing workflow:

Features​

Detailed guides for specific features:

Help​

Getting Started

New to Inkwren? Start with the Quick Start Guide to set up your account and create your first content in under 10 minutes.